Milwaukee – American Pasteurization Company (APC), a national leader in High Pressure Processing (HPP), has acquired FreshCo Foods, a Milwaukee-based, end-to-end co-manufacturer of premium and specialty food products. As part of the acquisition, FreshCo has been renamed APC Manufacturing.
APC Manufacturing was founded in 2017 and has been adding capabilities and expanding its portfolio of business for the past year. The company has three CIA-trained chefs who work with clients on all aspects of product development – from concept creation and testing to packaging development and production. APC Manufacturing’s packaging capabilities currently include bag, squeeze pouch and container filling of almost any shape or size and induction seal application.
“APC Manufacturing was originally established as a stand-alone company to provide co-packing services to clients of APC. Its rapid growth has required an infusion of capital that’s best delivered by APC,” says Justin Segel, co-founder and CEO of American Pasteurization Company. “APC Manufacturing operates in the same building as APC, so it’s been an easy ownership transition.”
APC Manufacturing currently produces a variety of products, including: hummus; fresh salsa and pico de gallo; salad dressing; baby food; macaroni & cheese; soups and stews; mashed potatoes and potato sides; stuffing; pasta salads; fresh salads such as tuna and chicken; sauces and marinades; and pesto and marinara.
APC Manufacturing is also capable of co-packing guacamole and avocado-based products, fresh pasta and cooked pasta dishes, legume and bean dishes, grain and rice dishes, coleslaw and a variety of fresh dips.
“APC Manufacturing clients can take advantage of a full-service, turnkey process that provides co-packing and timely HPP services within the same facility,” says Segel. “Having manufacturing and HPP under one roof allows product to get into HPP faster, ensures the cold chain is maintained and eliminates an additional freight cost.”
The majority of APC Manufacturing’s clients also utilize high pressure pasteurization provided by APC. HPP is a cold pasteurization technique where products that are already sealed in their final package are pasteurized by applying extreme hydrostatic pressure. HPP kills bacteria that can cause spoilage and food-borne illness and greatly extends a product’s shelf life. Applying HPP to foods and beverages – rather than heat pasteurization or synthetic preservatives – results in products that have a fresher taste and better appearance, texture and nutritional composition.
In addition to HPP, APC offers a variety of assembly services, including: lid application; date code application; product shrink sleeving and labeling; multi-pack building; banding; and box, carton and sleeve erecting and packing.
Within the past year, APC has also added a direct-to-consumer shipping program. This service picks items from a customer’s online order, packs product in cooler boxes and ships the order directly to the consumer’s door.
“As more and more consumers migrate to online food shopping, we’ve established ourselves as a fulfillment and shipping partner for our clients,” says Segel.
Segel, who has 40-plus years of experience in food manufacturing, founded APC in Milwaukee in 2004 with a partner. Since then, the company has grown to 250 employees and operates at its Milwaukee location out of an 140,000-square-foot facility equipped with six HPP machines. In 2012, APC opened a second location in Sacramento, Calif., where it operates two HPP machines. Through a partnership with Bainbridge Beverage Co., APC also offers beverage manufacturing and bottling, including cold-pressed juicing, coffee and tea brewing, and an assortment of other premium beverage and bottled food manufacturing.
Since 2004, APC has been applying HPP to an increasing variety of food products, such as cooked and raw meats, cold-pressed juice, cold-brewed coffee and other premium beverages, salsas, hummus, guacamole, dips, soups, dressings, sauces, cheese, seafood, egg and dairy products, as well as baby food and children’s foods.
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Established in 2004 and based in Milwaukee, American Pasteurization Company (APC) and its portfolio company, APC Manufacturing, provide end-to-end co-packing, HPP processing, package assembly and direct-to-consumer shipping services to a broad spectrum of clients in various food and beverage categories – cooked and raw meats, cold-pressed juices, salsas, sauces, dressings, dips, “wet” salads, premium pet foods, soups and cheese, egg and dairy products, cold-brewed coffee and specialty beverages, baby food and children’s foods. Through a partnership with Bainbridge Beverage Company, APC also specializes in manufacturing and bottling cold-pressed juices and premium beverages. By utilizing HPP technology, American Pasteurization Company is committed to delivering products that are safer, last longer and have a fresher taste and better appearance, texture and nutritional composition. For more information, please visit www.americanpasteurizationcompany.com.
